


long road ahead

by Anna1992a



Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Hospital, Long Road Ahead, Sick Ian, Treatments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26342206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna1992a/pseuds/Anna1992a
Summary: In the book imortal, ians dad wilden told Ian that once his soul is returned to him, he will be sick for a while until his body returns to normal and heals from being dead for so long.Ian gets sick and ends up in the hospital for a very long time as his internal organs one by one shut down rapidly. Luckily rhey caught it in time or he would have been a goner.Slowly ian gets better and after a long while he gets to go home
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	long road ahead

It had been 6 months since Ian was revived by supernatural means.

Barley kept saying that their Dad obviously had plans for Ian or he wouldnt be here alive at this moment.

Laurel said that she wasn’t for sure how or why Ian came back but she was relieved that he was back and ok.

Barley felt the same way.

Laurel told Ian that Barley has always loved him and would do anything to make sure he was safe and happy no matter what it took.

Ian believed it.

Some could say that Barley was kind of like a half-dad/half brother to Ian as he was growing up as Ian never had a dad around.

Ian remembered how his dad, Wilden, had come to him in a trance like state, returning his soul to him. He told him Ian that he would have pain and feel horrible for a good while until his body got readjusted to being fully functional and alive again.

It really made Ian stop and think about the whole situation.

What illness/pain was his dad talking about?

Would he be this way forever?

Would his body shut down permanently again?

Just the thought scared Ian here lately, exspecailly when the pain started coming on.

One day, 2 months after he was revived, Ian was laying on the couch watching TV.

He normally got aches and pains, but nothing that could compare to the pain he was having currently.

He ached all over and it hurt to breathe. He was also extreemly tired and it was an effort to even stay awake.

Ian became scared as he didn’t know what was happening to him and he didn’t know what to do.

He called out for his mom and Laurel came running to his side.

She asked Ian if he was ok and he told her that he hurt so bad it was an effort to breathe and he hurt so bad he could barely move. And not to mention how he could barely stay awake to even function.

Laurel got Barley and they all went to a hospital 65 miles away in Edmonton.

New Mushroomton had crappy hospital service and mistreated patients.

Ian always had success with Edmonton Memorial so that was where Laurel took him.

It took an hour to get there but once they did finally get there; it wasn’t all that bad.

Laurel went in and got a wheelchair and was followed back out to the vehicle by a nurse who helped Barley lift Ian out of the back seat where he was laying and put him into the wheelchair.

Ian grimmaced when he was sat upright but he tried not to show any signs of pain or discomfort of any sort because of his brothter, Barley, who was allready seeming upset and sceptical on whether or not he would even make it out of Edmonton Memorial fully functional this time.

He looked down at Ian, whose eyes were half massed and his chest was rapidly rising and falling, pain spreading throughout his body liek wildfire which was starting to make him pass out and have troubles breathing.

The signs were clearer than all get out, clearer than Barley’s vision, which had recently become blurry and cloudy from tears swelling up in his eyes.

Barley grasped Ians tshirt firmly in his clammy hands; not wanting to let his little brother out of his sight and grasp again. His sense of urgency and not wanting to loose his brother again overcame his will and desire to emotionally comprehend exactly what was going on at that moment.

Ian sensed this. He wearily looked up at Barley and tried to let him know that everything would be ok.

Barley didn’t beleive him one bit.

Hospitals didn’t use to bother Barley, but now here lately they did.

Barley now hated them.

“They aernt gonna take my little brother again, at least not over my dead body that is.” Barley told himself.

Barley wanted to bad to not think so negatively but it was so hard not to.

He didn’t want fear to overcome his weary emotions, but sadly he was heading down a path he feared was more scarier than the Path of Peril he and Ian took on Ians 16th birthday almost 3 years ago.

Ian will be 19 this coming March 15th and Ian had big plans for his birthday that didn’t include medical anything whatsoever.

He wished more than ever he and Ian was on the same Path of Peril right now, trying to escape the Manticore’s Tavern that was on flames and laugh over and over whilst sitting on a giant cheeto floating down the river that felt like it led to nowhere.

But sadly that wasn’t the case and they were instead both on a new kind of Path of Peril; one all too familiar to even speak of.

A sense of panic struck Barley as they entered the automatic double doors.

Barley’s legs stiffened and failed to let him move any further but he forced them to move anyways.

He wished this was all just a bad dream that he could wake up from.

As they all 3 walked into the ER, Barley was afraid of the unknown, afraid of what they would find out.

A few minuets later, Ian passed out in the wheelchair which made the nurses get him a ER room quicker.

Once he got the ER room, Barley and Laurel sat on either side of the hospital bed where Ian lay passed out under a warm blanket with the lights dimmed.

Barley held his little brothers hand and smiled faintly.

He watched as Ian slept and twitched slightly ever so often.

Laurel noticed Barleys sullen expression and didn’t even have to ask what was wrong.

She looked at Barley and told him Ian would be ok it would just take time.

Barley nodded and choked back tears.

He remembered Ian telling him and Laurel that their dad told Ian that he would be sick and hurt and go through allot of trials and troubles as his body recovered from the damage he encountered when he was changed and venom coursed through his veins.

By all means, Ian should still be dead but he wasn’t and everyone was greatfull for it as well. It was just so devastating the aftermath of what happened to Ians poor body and the beating he took.

This just proved how strong willed Ian was, how he was able to go through so much pain and discomfort and come out fighting hard.

Soon, the dr came in and Laurel told him everything that was going on and the dr responded by saying that he wanted to admit Ian into the hospital to do some tests and blood work.

The dr ordered some bloodwork and then left the room, closing the door a bit too loud for Ians taste.

Ian shifted under his blanket when the dr closed the door just a bit too loud.

Barley squeezed Ians hand and let him know it was ok and Ian fell asleep soon after.

Soon, a nurse came in for the blood work to be drawn.

Ian grimaced as she drew the blood from his slightly trembling arm.

Once she was done, she disposed of her gloves and stepped out of the room.

Barley and Laurel noticed that when the nurse drew blood, she started a IV line in Ians hand. Just further proof he was going to be here for a while.

Soon a nurse from second floor came down and rolled ian onto the elevator. Laurel and Barley followed behind her.

Ian managed to cover his entire body up with the warm blanket, looking like a giant burrito on the bed.

The light quite clearly was bothering Ians eyes and he tried to escape the brightness and enter the darkness of his blanket.

Once they got to Ians new room, a nurse transfered Ian to his new bed. She took the old bed back and then another nurse came in to get Ian hooked up to different monitors.

However, Ian wasn’t having it.

The ER nurse took his warm blanket and the bright light and coldness of the room was uncomfortable to Ian and he made it quite known to everyone of his discomfort.

Laurel asked to dim the lights in the room and the nurse said yes. But nothing could be done about the coolnes in the room.

Then came the ‘fun part.’

The nurse tried to undress Ian to put a hospital gown on him and since Ian was kinda out of it due to pain and fatigue, made sure he expressed his disaprooval by kicking and flailing his arms and legs in a wild like manner while making groaning sounds.

Somehow, the nurse managed to remove all pieces of clothing, leaving Ian commando in his socks.

She put the gown on him, hooked up to the monitors and then asked if warm blankets were needed.

Laurel immediately said yes and the nurse went and got 2 heavy warm blankets from the warmer.

When she got back, Ian managed to open his eyes part way, looking like a stoned hippy and said, “First you wake me up, take me from a warm, dark room to a cold bright one, strip me of all my clothes and then put cold sitcker monitors on me then leave me there, no blanket to cuddle in and then leave the room, but its ok. I forgive you because you got me new warm blankets. You are forgiven.”

The nurse chuckled and then placed the warm blankets on Ian, dimmed the lights and then closed the blinds before leaving out of the room.

After she left, Ian resumed his rightful duty of once again, becmming the living burrito he once was in the blankets and then fell asleep again.

He began to snore soon after.

Barley took a quick picture and chuckled quietly as he posted it on facebook.

He knew the picture would garnish questions on what was wrong with the sleeping adult elf, and what was the nature of the burrito like state he was in.

And it did.

Both Barley and Laurels phones blew up with texts and calls from family and friends wondering why Ian was in the hospital and covered head to toe in a blanket.

Was he dead?

Barley edited the post and said, “:LOL hes not dead, just gripey and sleepy. Currently trying to figure out what is going on and what his issues are currently. He wont be going anywhere for a long time and quite frankly he isnt quite sure if he is happy about it or not at this point. He is kind of out of it because of pain and such. But he has blankets in which he cocoons and burritos in and dimmed lights so he is content for the moment. Sorry to scare you guys. Ian is fully alive and feels like shit!”

Barley put his phone down and then looked at his brother who remained snoring in his burrito like state.

Suddenly, he broke wind under the blankets and Barley laughed as Ian had just dutch ovened himself and groaned as he was too tired to uncover his head from his stench that was suffocating him under the blankets.

An hour passed. A nurse came in and told everyone the blood work came back and it took a while because of the fact that they tested for everything that there was to test for. The dr would be in soon and he would then discuss the nature of the test results to everyone.

The results were depressing.

Organ functions were decreasing where they shouldn't and increasing where they shouldn't. This explained the severe pain and fatigue.

As the nurse said, the dr came in and discussed the results and plan of treatment. An intense regimen of antibiotics and IV treatments, more blood work and a 21 round 3 course immunodetox treatment that had the same side effects as chemo except for no hair loss and cell damage. This would be a very challenging treatment but Ian would pull through it.

Healing and stabilization was the key focus at this point and Ian wasn’t anywhere close to being this.

The dr said that if they had waited any longer to start treatment and get help, Ian would not have made it through the night.

Barley began to cry and Laurel froze in her seat, shock overcoming her and leaving her speechless.

The fact that they made it in time gave some comfort to Barley but not much.

But Ian was far from being out of the woods so to speak.

When asked how long they were looking at Ian staying in the hospital, the dr replied and said weeks, maybe even months and that it depeneded on how well Ian could handle treatments and how fast he healed. Right now, Ians organs were severely damaged and needed intense conditioning to recover. At this point, Ian may never be fully healed but he could be fully functional enough to be able to live his life with little discomfort as possible and with as little medical supervision as possible. Medical intervention wouldnt ever not be a part of Ians life from now on, but at least he wouldnt have hundreds of tubes and wires hanging off of him, maybe one or two at the most and those being discrete at that.

All these treatments would include long long nights recovering from painful IV fluids designed to heal failing organs that might cause nausea and vomiting, antibiotics to get rid of infections, countless MRIs/CAT scans Xrays and in depth blood work every day.

The dr concluded by saying Ian might even be here for over a year if his body failed to respond to treatment in the fashion the dr was planning and hoping for. Worst case senario, this included extended treatment in ICU.

Ians ear twitched slightly at that one, making its way from under the covers to hear better.

He heard that loud and clear and he didn’t like it either.

Ian ahs always been a strong willed elf. Anything you throw at him he will conquer it in his own way and come out successful in some way or another. This case was no different.

Despite his condition, Ian made it quite clear of his disapproval on the situation at hand by slowly sticking his hand out from under the covers and weakly flipping the bird and keeping his hand fixed in that position.

Barley saw the rude hand gesture and instantly knew Ian was beyond mad as Ian almost never flips the bird. Barley also knew that if Ian was feeling some better, he would probably try to pick a fight with the dr.

But instead, he laid there angrily groaning and shaking his middle finger till he passed out shortly thereafter.

The dr stood up and then gently moved the blanket back to look at Ian, who woke up and angrily glared at him and then said, “Don’t think I didn’t see your rude hand gesture. To tell you the truth, I don’t like having to be here and administer all this horrible stuff to you either and see you in a lot of pain that makes you feel like utter crap, but that is my job and I am here to make sure that you are better and can go home. The way I see it is if you have enough strength to flip me off and in other words tell me to go to hell, then you have enough strength and willpower to heal up and get the heck out of here. Prove me wrong Lightfoot.”

The dr moved the blanket back and then walked away as Ian slowly slid his hand back under the blanket. He proved his point and felt that he no longer needed to give the rude hand gesture anymore.

The dr challenged Ian and Ian accepted the challenge.

The dr shook his head and then said, “Miss Lightfoot, we have a feisty one on our hands. Watch out for him.”

The dr left out of the room and then both Laurel and Barley began to laugh mightily.

“Ian thinks that the dr is challenging him to get better. And in a way he is. Oh boy, this should be interesting.” Barley said, laughing even more.

This whole time, Ian had been listening and being a nosy turd and decided to make his comments known. He weakly gave a thumbs up and said, “Its on.” His voice was muffled by the blankets.

Ian is able to talk and do everything that he normally did, but currently he needed assistance because he was so weak and tired do it. But occasionally he would muster up enough energy to say a few words or sentences.

Laurel and Barley laughed some more and then Barley smiled and then said, “Ian is a fighter. He will make it, don’t worry mom.”

Laurel smiled and then nodded in agreement. She knew full well Ian was going to make it but it was going to take a very long time before things were going back to normal and everyone was able to go back home.

Laurel and Barley were allowed to stay at the hospital with Ian so the past several weeks, they had been at the hospital.

There was a fold out couch and a recliner in the room so Barley and Laurel took turns sleeping in them. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep in in the world, but it was worth it to be near Ian.

As long as they were quiet when Ian was asleep and didn’t wake up the other patients in the surrounding area, they were allowed to stay there while Ian was in patient.

Getting Ian better so he could go home was their top priority and nothing was going to stand in their way from doing that.


End file.
